The 1960s was one of the most charged sociopolitical periods in United States history. It was the time of the Vietnam War. The local news was ripe with the stories of young men who were sent to Vietnam returning in body bags. The youth of America were rebelling against the war they did not understand and the political establishment. 

      Against that backdrop, the youth of small, nurturing St. Umblers, North Carolina started looking for ways to have fun as a diversion. On the front line of that search were Dion, Tea and Cosmo. Those three were far from being musketeers. Just as nature points the limbs of a tree in different directions so were these three. Dion was driven to be a scientist. He was the consummate gentleman. He was the shagger. Tea never wore a watch. A watch would not have mattered; he was going to be late. Time was just a vague concept to him. Tea was all about meeting and talking to people. Cosmo was the romantic. His goal was to lose his virginity as quickly as possible to a nice Southern girl and settle into a long, happy married life. He was the comic figure. 

      In 1965, Reese introduced them to Williams Lake. They recruited others from St. Umblers for future trips. Over the next few years, they had many adventures and misadventures centered on the Williams Lake pavilion. The crowd was drawn by the opposite sex. The guys were looking for the fallen debutante. The girls were looking for the secure playboy. They went to listen to the musical groups that performed a breed of music dubbed “Beach Music”. They went to dance the Shag.

      Dion, Tea and Cosmo eventually expanded their search for fun and adventure. They began to explore other bastions of the Shag such as White Lake, Carolina Beach and Ocean Drive. However, “The Lake” remained their touchstone. By the end of the summer of 1968, the core of the St. Umblers group began to dissipate going their separate ways. They succumbed to the responsibilities that come with age. 

      Time has treated the Williams Lake pavilion and its faithful harshly. There is little left of the pavilion. Some of the St. Umblers group have left us. Others have been slowed. Some can still be seen shaggin'. The survivors have been indelibly stamped by those days when Williams Lake was the center of their universe. 

      Brief histories of Williams Lake, Beach Music and the Shag as well as biographic sketches of some of the entertainers who performed at Williams Lake are provided in addition to the group’s adventures.